Describe an important conversation that influenced you.

[You will have to talk about the topic for one to two minutes. You have one minute to think about what you are going to say. You can make some notes to help you if you wish.]

Model Answer 1:
Travelling is my hobby and I often travel to different parts in India. Usually, I prefer train journey where I have chances to meet with people of different strata. Last week, I went to Kolkata by train and had a fruitful conversation with a stranger.

I boarded the train after my supper at the station. Usually, I travel in a chair and avoid berths in order to meet people. A man with a white beard had his seat beside me. After a brief introduction, we started the conversation. The conversation went around the night. We took a short break during the discussion as well. It was a highly interesting experience for me as the aged and enriched man shared a good number of issues with me. Both of us were too attentive in the discussion that none of us cared that the sun was rising. Suddenly I noticed the matter and humbly requested the man to conclude the discussion as my stoppage was also appearing. Finally, I got down off the train in Kolkata while the man was still on board for his destination. Both of us promised to keep in touch.

I had the discussion with a Muslim man named Mr Mohammad Ameer Ali. He was a scholar and a local college teacher. He was a smart man with his gently cared beard, a cap on his head (used for prayer) with a white Punjabi and kurta. He was moderately tall and healthy. He has been in living in Howrah for a long time and said that his parents and forefathers stayed in the country since the independence. Many of the Muslims migrated in Pakistan but his family did not for many reasons. He was kind to others and I have found that he is familiar with many of the people including the ticket collector of the train who addressed him as – Mian Sahiv. It was also my pleasure to meet a man like him and later I came to know that he teaches history at Lalbaba College in Howrah under West Bengal. It appeared to me that he was a fatherly figure to all of his students and I wish I were one of those!

We talked about a good number of issues. In fact, I was an attentive listener and grabbed all the speeches delivered by Mr Ali. It was a pleasant environment. The sky was clear and we sat beside a window. The moonlight was illuminating the entire place inside the wagon. In such a moment, the discussion began with the issues of politics. Then it moved to philosophy, history and mostly religion. Mr Ali carefully described the key cause of chaos around us. His speeches were magical indeed.

Earlier, I had numerous misconceptions about politics, religions and historical issues. But Mr Ali informed me all the past events one after another and consequently my knowledge level increased suddenly. I was amazed at the past stories of my state and how the rulers ruled the country peacefully. Different dynasty came here and ruled the common people while they also took proper care of them. Besides, many of the Muslim religious leaders also arrived in India to preach their religion, Islam. But currently we have some conflicts with religious issues and I was influenced by the explanations provided by Mr Ali over the conflicts. I think he was right. Moreover, he did not even slightly hurt my religious belief as well with his speech. The most important learning from the conversation was to love the creatures. I had no idea about the issue and now repenting that I made mistakes. Besides, he advised me to care about my parents and relatives. I, in fact, following his advice in my real life. Really the conversation was one of the bests in my life.

Model Answer 2:
I used to tell lies. It was a kind of bad habit for me. I tried several times but could not get rid of the habit. After having a conversation with a Muslim religious leader, I am now free of this habit. Thank you for asking me the question. I will describe the event in brief now.

I was making a short journey to my college by a public transport. Actually, journey by public transport in Delhi is difficult. The difficulties appear for the traffic congestion. So, when the bus was stuck in a tiring traffic jam, I had the conversation. I learnt some new ideas and they appeared interesting to me. The conversant ended when the journey for me was over. I got off the bus at my university stoppage. But I will remember the conversation for my life. They were influential and helped me greatly to change my bad habit.

I had the conversation with a Muslim religious leader and scholar. He was also riding with me on the same bus. In fact, I wanted to know how I could get rid of the bad habit of telling lie to people. It may sound peculiar that I tell lie even in this matured age. I asked him to give me some effective advice. Earlier, I had talks with many other people but none of them could come up with a satisfactory solution for this problem. The habit formed by me since my childhood. But later it seems to be a permanent habit to me. So, people were worried while talking with if I was telling lie to them. Hence, I had been seeking someone who could help me to discard the issue from my life. After the conversation, it was helpful for me to lead a normal life free of all types of lies.

I actually talked about various issues but my bad habit was the prioritised one. I was stuck in the traffic congestion for over one hour in different intersections. So, I had plenty of times to talk with the man. I discussed some of the religious beliefs and conflicts. I sought advice from him about giving up the bad habit. He cited numerous examples and made me understood about the detrimental impacts of telling lies. Besides, the discussion went on about the political, social and many other issues. I criticised some the current activities of the government while he pointed out the praiseworthy initiatives. But he disagrees with some of the state policies and the same time he is backing the services that the government has adopted for keeping a peaceful and healthy relationship with the neighbouring countries. It appeared that he was an enlightened man who has knowledge on almost all the current issues.

The conversation influenced me to a great extent. The man explained some facts to me. I was extremely impressed with the events. Later, I thought myself that I am actually doing a sin. I discovered that someday I might have to get the results. So, I promised myself not to lie anymore to anyone. It was difficult for me to give up the habit. But I became successful after some struggles. It was hard for me to give up the habit and tell the truth while speaking. Usually, I told lies with everyone and it was fun in the beginning. Later, I experienced huge negative consequences and thus wanted to get rid of it. This time, the conversation helped me to kick the habit out of my life. I was influenced by the conversation with the scholarly man. I am happy indeed and leading a simple life now.

Idea Generation for this Cue Card Topic:

"Describe an important conversation that influenced you."

1. The conversation took place last month when I went to meet Harry and his family. It was Harry’s father whom I had the conversation with. We discussed the global political issues. And it was really a nice conversation. In fact, I did not have an idea that Harry's dad was so much knowledgeable in Global politics. He pointed out some specific issues that might take place in the global context. He explained how the governments in power in different developed countries are exploiting the ordinary citizens' rights. I was influenced by his explanations and analysis.

2. Religion is a matter of belief and it varies person to person. So, when I had the conversation, I was impressed indeed. It was Sam whom I talked about the issue. He knows many things about different religions and studied a lot to gain the knowledge. He explained why there are so many troubles in the world about religions. And he also explained why people are not following the religions properly. Finally, he concluded that everyone should follow their own religion.

3. Cricket appears an interesting outdoor game but when Mr Abraham started talking about it, I was enchanted. We had the discussion before the league final match between two local teams here in Sydney. He explained a good number of critical issues. Earlier, I believed that bowling in a cricket match was a simple issue. But after the conversation, I came to know that bowling in cricket is not that easy as it appears. The bowlers need to focus on different issues simultaneously. In fact, my knowledge was increased about cricket match and I was really impressed.

4. I had a conversation with a professional freelancer about digital marketing. I talked with him last week when I went to meet him for some professional reasons. We discussed the digital marketing trends around and how an amateur like me can improve there. That was an interesting discussion and I was impressed with the topics discussed and their insights. I came to know about the inner aspects of digital marketing and how to take leverage of this trend to enhance business opportunity. I was influenced by the points that he described and they were really important for me.

5. My skill in preparing PowerPoint presentation is weak. So, I wanted to get some ideas about how I can improve my skills and I had a conversation with my elder brother about it. He is an IT expert and gave me some specific ideas. We talked about the particular issues of preparing a PowerPoint presentation and how to enrich the presentation for the audience. I was influenced after the conversation as it revealed lots of unknown things to me. In fact, it was really a fruitful conversation that taught me a good number of things in a short time.

If you can talk about the cue card topic "Describe an important conversation that influenced you." you should be able to talk about the following IELTS cue card topics as well:

Describe a conversation that you still remember well.

Describe a conversation you had with a friend.

Describe an important conversation that helped you.

Talk about a discussion or conversation that you recently had with someone.